


Epiphany

by switmikan74



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Developing Relationship, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hinata loves Kageyama, KageHina - Freeform, Kageyama loves Hinata, M/M, Narrative, a study of their relationship, relationship exploration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/switmikan74/pseuds/switmikan74
Summary: Kageyama didn’t know it was love the first time around. Nor he knew it the second time. Or the third. Or the seventeenth
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 9
Kudos: 76





	Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> This is a different kind of storytelling from my part. hahaha. But I hope you'll enjoy. I need to write a proper KageHina fic someday. But my attention is currently divided. So yeah.

***

Kageyama didn’t know it was love the first time around. Nor he knew it the second time. Or the third. Or the seventeenth.

It wasn’t that he is dense with the matter of romance. He knew how a romantic relationship works. He had seen many of his friends and seniors enter and exit relationships countless of times. Some having forged a bond with a lifetime partner while some struggle maintaining one.

He just didn’t think it was possible for him to be in love. Volleyball held the biggest part of his heart and the other parts were seemingly occupied by the precious people he had come to cherish. He never imagined that something more will develop from his friendship with Hinata.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like him. It’s impossible to dislike Hinata. He’s too charming for his own good, always carrying the sun on his lips. There’s something about him that you just wanted to stay, to embrace. A certain warmth encompassing the area wherever he goes. A certain loudness that encourages you like the booming cheers when you score an ace.

It wasn’t even that Hinata is his rival. Their rivalry does not hinder them from becoming the best of friends. It’s a healthy relationship where they won’t second guess the other’s potential because they both know that they’ll catch up soon enough. Kageyama believes in Hinata as much as Hinata believes in Kageyama. If he flies higher, Hinata would flap his wings as hard and gain the height that Kageyama has taken.

There’s a certain perspective that Kageyama adapted when it comes to Hinata. While he, himself, is abundant with talent, Hinata grows and survives in any condition he is given. He does not give up. Hinata is always receptive in everything –in unpleasant circumstances, in joyful moments, in promises. Kageyama had always been cautious with things, even with risks. He has to be precise, always after an immediate result, always trying to dabble his hands on perfection in the court. It’s a choking habit that he wanted to get rid. Yet, Hinata accepted him for who he is.

Kageyama likes Hinata. He probably loved him since they were in high school—probably when he saw Hoshiumi jumped and he thought Hinata could soar higher. He just doesn’t know it was love. He didn’t grow up with an abundance of affections. He does not remember his parents much. He was not as close to his sister as when they were younger and especially after their grandfather died, their distance grow astoundingly as well (it was only later when they were both adults that their relationship becomes better). Not many liked him because of his personality—and even his middle school volleyball team once dislike him with a passion.

The only affection he had known from the memories he had with his grandfather and sister and from his high school friends were that of a platonic kind. He does not think much of the first time he saw Hinata and his heart fluttered nor did he let it bother him the fiftieth time. He does not dwell on the countless moments Hinata lingered too heavily in his thoughts. He does not make a fuss about wanting Hinata by his side even longer than when practice hours ended and they both insisted on playing just a few minutes more.

Long before he knew it was love, Hinata already did.

But Hinata does not say anything. He was loud in everything but the matters of the heart. He knows Kageyama and the bright future ahead of him. The silence he opted was not a hard decision to make. Hinata likes him. He probably loves him the longest—he loves him from the time they made up in that precious training camp to the very present. If he was given a chance to go back and change his decision so he could be with Kageyama when they were in high school, he would turn his back on that chance.

Because saying yes to that opportunity meant being selfish. It meant having to start something they weren’t ready for because of the overwhelming emotions they felt for each other. He sees the way Kageyama looks at him with a stare meant for treasures and warmth and victories in the court. He sees the way how it confuses him so, enough to look away from the ball for a second.

So, Hinata chooses Kageyama.

He goes to Brazil without looking back. Kageyama would conquer the court on the other side of the world while he would train and train and train until he could step on the same court where Kageyama thrives. He banks on the ‘someday’ that always sticks to them both like it’s their love language of some sort. Like it’s a secret message only they could decipher. Like it’s a promise they will be able to keep.

Two years passed. Memories were made. Messages were exchanged. Encouragements were traded. Volleyball games were played. The sun rises and sets and the world spun on for days and days.

When Hinata comes back, appearing like the sun over the mountains, and Kageyama sets his eyes again on him and sees the fruits of his efforts, sees him fly across the court like a bird soaring high in the sky, Kageyama somewhat realizes something Hinata had already known.

It wasn’t the first time. Nor it was the second. Nor it was the third or fourth. It wasn’t even the seventeenth time when it happened. But he is sure as any man would be towards someone they treasure most.

Kageyama loves Hinata. And it is okay if it took him years to understand. It is okay if he is still a little bit confused. Hinata gets confused too sometimes. It’s not easy being in love. Hinata would not run across the court and kiss Kageyama. Nor Kageyama would drop on one knee at his realization.

Instead, Kageyama texts Miwa for advice and Miwa reserves a table at her favorite restaurant that overlooks the ocean. She dresses him up in the fanciest tux she could find in his wardrobe (which is not much but it will do, her baby brother’s lucky he has the face to compensate his lack of fashion taste). Kageyama buys sunflowers and roses because they remind him of Hinata. And he takes Hinata out for the first time.

It was awkward as it was sweet. Hinata finds it amusing that Kageyama is trying his hardest. It is not something his Brazilian flair would appreciate. Kageyama does not have a way with words. He does not know how to dance. He does not restrain with stares. He is clumsy with his hands when it comes to hand holding. And he looks out of place with his tux although they’re at an elegant restaurant.

Kageyama is too earnest that Hinata swears he would melt. It spills all over—Kageyama’s affections. He doesn’t get better with his honesty over time. Not in their second date or the third or the ninety-ninth date. Not when Kageyama left for Italy. Not when Hinata returns to Brazil.

They venture their romantic relationship like it’s a new challenger in the court. And like they were back to square one, fifteen-year olds trying to figure out the best way to win a match, they fumble in their first few tries. They sometimes would get clumsy. Sometimes, they would drop it like it was too heavy to receive. Sometimes, they were afraid that there would be no chances left if they make mistakes.

But the thing about love is that when they realize it’s not a battle, not a volleyball match, not a triathlon, it gets easier to manage. It isn’t a step of ABC. It isn’t a secret technique developed to startle or confuse players. It isn’t something that they wouldn’t be able to handle.

It’s theirs. And that’s what matters most. So, Kageyama loves Hinata the seventh time, the eight time, the fiftieth time, the thousandth time. And Hinata loves Kageyama back in all instances.

Fin

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you'll leave a review. <3


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